Improvement in harvesters



J. BLUE.

Harvester.

Patented March 26. 1861.

\Illlllllll a e W I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN BLUE, o COVERT, NEW Yonx.

IMPROVEMENT IN HARVESTERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 31.774, dated March 26, 1861.

To all whomit may concern: I

Be it known that I, JOHN BLUE, of Covert, in the county of Seneca and State of New York, have/ invented certain new and useful,

Improvements in Grain and Grass Harvesters; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same,

a side sectional view of the same, taken in the line y y, Fig. 3; Fig. 3, a plan or top view of the same; Fig. 4, a transverse section of the same, taken in the line a 2, Fig. 3.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

The object of this invention is to obtain a one-wheel harvester which will admit. as the machine passes along of having its finger-bar and sickle capable of adjusting themselves parallelly to the inequalities of surface over which they pass, and thereby enable the sickle to work as close to the surface of the ground as may be desired without coming in contact therewith, the'front or cutting. edge of the sickle being elevated and .depressed to suit the'surface of the ground, and without being at all affected by the vertical movement of the driving-wheel, produced by the inequalities of surface over which the machine passes.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

A represents the draft-pole of the machine, to the back part of which a plate, B, is secured by pivots or journals to a. The back part of the plate 13 is permanently attached to the axle C of the machine, the driving-wheel D being on one end of it.

To the driving-wheel D there is attached concentrically a toothed wheel, E, into which a pinion, F, gears, the latter being on a shaft, G, in the plate 13, the shaft passing through one journal at and being in line with the other one. (See Figs. 3 and 4.) The shaft G is a lowed a certain degree of longitudinal play in its bearings, and at one end it is provided with a head, I), which is fitted in a grooved plate, 0, at the side of a triangular or wedge-shaped plate, H, which is placed on the plate B, and bears at one side against the head I) of the shaft, and has a cleat at the other side, which is fitted in a groove, d, in plate B. The wedgeshaped plate H has a bent lever, I, attached to it, said lever passing through a loop, .e, at the back part of the plate H, and extending within reach of the driver or attendant on seat J. The back part of the lever I is provided with a spring, K, which presses the outer part of the lever I into either of notches ff. The driver or attendant on seat J, by actuating lever I, moves the wedge-shaped plate H, and thereby shifts the shaft G and throws the pinion a in or out of gear with Wheel 0, as may be desired. This arrangement constitutes a very simple and efficient means for actuating the shaft G.

The seat J is secured to the outer end of a bent bar, L, the lower end of which is connected by a joint, 9, to the axle O, and the bar L is connected at its angle to a transverse bar, h, at the back part of the draft-pole by a rod,

(Shown in Fig. 3.)

M is a seat, which is attached to the upper end of a bar, N, the lower part of which is fitted loosely on the axle G. This bar N is connected by a rod, j, with the transverse bar h of the draft-pole.

To the back end of the draft-pole A there is attached a vertical plate, 0, having 'a sector, P, at its upper end, which sector is perforated with holes is near its periphery. Q; is a toggle or knee lever, the fulcrum of which is at l, the center of sector 1?. The lower arm of the toggle or knee lever is connected to the axle O. The upper arm or part of the toggle has a spring-catch, Z, attached to it, which catches into either of the holes is of the sector.

B is'a plate or frame, the upper end of which v is fitted loosely, by eyes or thimbles m m, to the man, 19, from the crank T. The finger-bar U is supported by wheels q g, which are attached to arms 1" r at the back of the finger-bar U.

From the above description itwill be seen that as the machine is drawn along the frame by actuating the toggle or knee lever Q, may

elevate or depress the back part of the draftpole A, and consequently elevate or depress the front part of plate B and the frame R, and thereby elevate in a greater or less degree the front or cutting edge of the sickle, so that the latter may cut as close to the surface of the ground as may be desired. This result is due to the arrangement of the plate B and frame R, connected by ajoint in front of the axle O, and it will be seen that the sickle-driving mechanism remains in gear during any adjustment of the toggle or knee lever Q. The arrange ment of the seats J M, as shown-to wit, connected respectively to bars L N, attached by joints to the axle G, and connected by rods to the draft-poleretains the seats in proper position during any adjustment of the plate B.

I do not claim, broadly, attaching the fingerbar and sickle of a harvester to a swinging frame irrespective of the arrangement of said frame or its connection with other parts; but

7 I do claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent The attaching of the finger-bar U to a plate or frame, It, which has its front end connected by a joint to a plate, 13, the back part of which is attached to the axle G, the joint-connection of the-frame R and plate B being attached to the back part of the draft-pole A, and at any point in front of the axle, to operate as and for the purpose specified.

, JOHN BLUE.

\Vitnesses:

LEWIS A. TUCKER, M. M. LIVINGSTON. 

